The Washington Post is out with a piece that points to what may be the new Democratic path in Congress….
No big fights with Republicans on issues of immigration, healthcare and gun control….
With things looking good for a possible ‘wave’ election coming their way in November, Trump’s dismal polling numbers , his fumbling along and Robert Mueller waiting in the wings?
They may feel that it’s time to lay low despite their progressive wing pushing for action on those issue’s….There are a LOT of OTHER things they are fighting for and?
At least on the DACA/Dreamer question?
The courts have given the Democrats breathing room against Trump just going off and deporting them….
For months, Democrats promised to use their leverage on government spending to protect young immigrants at risk for deportation after President Trump canceled the program. More recently, they have demanded Congress pass universal background checks for gun buyers in the wake of another deadly school shooting.
Now, with Congress less than two weeks from a funding deadline, Democrats are showing little willingness to corner Republicans on those issues.
Their lack of appetite to provoke another showdown represents a shift after two previous fights resulted in brief government shutdowns and risks alienating the party’s liberal base crucial in midterm elections. But several events have sapped the party’s resolve. Moderate Democrats flinched after a three-day January shutdown fought over immigration; court decisions have left Trump’s cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in legal limbo; and many Democrats are quietly eager to pass the next spending bill and lock in more money for key agencies.
“The current predicament illustrates how you really only had one bite at the apple of taking a stand over the funding of the government on this [DACA] issue,” said Brian Fallon, a Democratic consultant who is close to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) “The previous attempt was either going to be successful, or this gambit was going to fall apart, and what’s happened is it has fallen apart.”
Congressional leaders are now hashing out a $1.3 trillion “omnibus” spending package ahead of a March 23 deadline. Despite the lack of resolution on DACA and no clear path forward on gun control after a Feb. 14 shooting left 17 dead inside a Florida high school, party leaders are brushing off suggestions of a fresh showdown….